Sunday, 20 November 2011

Royal Enfield India once also made Scooters & Mopeds..!!

Royal Enfield India once also made Scooters & Mopeds..!!
Compilation of a couple of rare Royal Enfield models of yore..
A lot of changes have taken place at Royal Enfield during the last couple of years. Most significant of these changes has been replacing the nearly 50 year old cast iron engine (which had a separate gear casing) with a modern Unit Construction Engine (UCE). The characteristic thump of the single cylinder engine might have been slightly muffled due to the new UCE engine but nevertheless it’s still a 4 stroke thump.

What might surprise / even shock many is that once upon a time Royal Enfield India dabbled in a couple of 2 stroke models, among which there used to be a Scooter, a Moped and a Mini Moped..!!
Posted below are the 2 stroke models that Royal Enfield / Enfield India (as it was also known for sometime) used to manufacture once upon a time.

Effort has been made to collect the correct information about the models. In case anyone has any correction or addtional information about the models, he/she is most welcome to correct/contribute.

Royal Enfield Fantabulus: [More on the Fantabulus: TeamBhp]
Engine: Single cylinder, 150 cc, 2 stroke, 7.4 bhp

Launch: 1962

Highlight: The engine was based on an engine from Villiers of England, the scooter had right foot operated gears and it was the first 2 wheeler in India to feature an electric starter.

And yes there is no spelling mistake here, the scooter was indeed named “Fantabulus


Royal Enfield Sherpa: [More on the Sherpa: TeamBhp]

Enfield sherpa
Engine: Single cylinder, 175 cc, 2 stroke

Launch: 1963

Highlight: The engine was based on an engine from Villiers


Royal Enfield Crusader: [More on the Crusader: TeamBhp]

Enfield Crusader
Engine: Single cylinder, 175 cc, 2 stroke

Launch: 1973

Highlight: The Crusader was basically a restyled Sherpa


Enfield Mini Bullet: [More on the Mini Bullet: GreaseMonkeys]

Enfield Mini Bullet
Engine: Single cylinder, 200 cc, 2 stroke

Launch: 1980

Highlight: The 200 cc engine was an enlarged Crusader engine


Enfield Silver Plus:

Enfield Silver Plus
Engine: Single cylinder, 50 cc, 2 stroke, 6.5 bhp

Launch: 1983

Highlight: Based on the Zundapp (of Germany) ZS/ZX 50 models, step thru moped with kick start and hand gear shift, the initial models had 2 gears but the later ones had 3 gears.


Enfield Explorer: [More on the Explorer: TeamBhp]

Enfield Explorer
Engine: Single cylinder, 50 cc, 2 stroke, 6.5 bhp

Launch: 1983

Highlight: Based on the Zundapp KS50 with 3 speed gearbox


Enfield Fury: [More on the Fury: TeamBhp]

Enfield Fury
Engine: Single cylinder, 175 cc, 2 stroke,

Launch: 1988

Highlight: Based on the Zundapp KS175. It was the first motorcycle in India to sport a front disc brake..!!


Enfield Mofa: [More on the Mofa: Hindu]

Enfield mofa
Engine: Single cylinder, 22 cc, 2 stroke, 0.8 bhp

Launch: Somewhere in the late 1980’s

Highlight: Based on a mini moped designed by Morbidelli of Italy. It had a centrifugal clutch, the fuel was carried in the frame down tube and there was no suspensio

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